Improvement in washing-machines



R. n. SIPES.

Improvement in Washing Machines.

Patented Feb. 27,, 1872.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

ROBERT H. SIPES, OF BLOODY RUN, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN WASHING-MACHINES..

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 124,168, dated February 27, 1872.

To allwhom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, ROBERT H. SIPEs, of Bloody Run, in the county of Bedford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Washing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a representation of a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the same.

This invention has relation to a washingmachine, designed to be set in an ordinary washtub, and provided with a washing-cylinder, a pair of small rollers to conduct the clothes to said cylinder, and a fluted washboard. The novelty of this invention consists in the arrangement of India-rubber flaps underneath the rollers to prevent articles from being drawn between the rollers and the washboa-rd; also in the construction and arrangement of an extension board applied to the base of the machine, in order that it may be made to fit tubs of various sizes; all as hereinafter described.

Referring to the drawing, A represents the base of the machine; B B,the slotted standards supporting the fluted India-rubber cylinder 0 by the shaft D. E designates a pair of rollers, journaled to the standards B B below the cylinder G. F shows a corrugated curved washboard, lying between the rollers E, and supported by a bar, G. H represents a sheet of India rubber placed between the washboard and the bar G, its edges projecting out underneath the rollers E, as shown. The rollers E are designed to conduct the clothes or articles to be washed to the cylinder and washboard, and the rubber sheet H prevents fringes or other fine materials from being drawn between said rollers and the washboard. To one side of the tub is secured a block, I, mortised or bored to receive tenons on the end of the base'A. The machine is arranged in the tub by first fitting the tenons to the block I, and then pressing the other end of the base down to its proper position in the tub, and fitting it to a mortised block, I, secured to the side of the tub. In order to adapt the machine to different-sized tubes, I provide an extension piece having a convex or curved end. This piece I secure by screws to the base, allowing it to project as far as required. K indicates spiral springs, which pass through holes in the base A, and are furnished with hooks I at their upper ends to hold the shaft of the cylinder. At the lower ends of said springs are nuts M, for the purpose of regulating their tension. A stud projects from the interior of each nut between the coils, and thus renders the nut capable of adjustment in the same way as an ordinary screw-nut. The object of these springs is to exert a pressure on the cylinder, so as to create sufficient friction for the effective operation of the machine. A longitudinal slot, N, is cut in the board J, to receive one of the nuts M.

I claim as my invention 1. In a washing-machine, the rubber sheet H, in combination with the rollers E, concave washboard F, and grooved roller 0, as and for the purpose described.

2. The extension piece J, in combination with the base A of a washing-machine, and the mortised supports I I, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT H. SIPES.

Witnesses:

J OSEPH Ross, SIMON REBMAN. 

